The Worms series has been around for quite a long time, and now it comes to the Wii in its classic 2D turn-based artillery style.
Worms: A Space Oddity takes the little worms into space, with gravity now also playing a role in the game mechanics. The controls are motion-based and allow you to launch different attacks or use certain items. The Wii-mote is used in a variety of ways: use it as a pointer to guide projectiles, press B and do aquick drop motion to detonate explosives, flick it to jump. Every item – grenades, jet packs, ships, guided missiles, teleporters, platforms, shovels – are controlled by either a gesture or by pointing, making the game fun and different from the traditional point and click.
There is a bit of a learning curve to figure out the controls for all the items though, but with a little time and practice, you get the hang of it. The most complicated is probably the Impact Frag, where you have to fiddle with a bunch of things before you actually launch the thing: up and down to aim, tilting the Wii-mote to adjust the power, press B to lock, swing it and let go to launch.
The single-player mode here takes you through six unique planets (Cavernia, Tenticlia, Frostal, Kaputzol, Mechanopolis and Earth), each of them with its own environment and conditions. This means that attacks that worked well in a particular planet may not work on the next because of gravity, wind or the planet’s surface itself. The stages (six per planet) offer environmental puzzles and some timed challenges as well, plus a bonus mini-game at the end of the six stages of a given planet. These mini-games can be played by four players and will appear on the main menu once they’re unlocked.
Your team of Worms will take turns with the opponent controlling one member of the squad at a time. Since you have a limited amount of time, you have to make each move count. Plan a strategy, move into position and use an item. Don’t waste your turns by falling off a cliff, exploding yourself along with your enemies or missing your shot. Precision is the key. The goal is to kill the enemy Worms, which is done when they lose all their HP.
As far as multiplayer goes, don’t get too excited. The initially planned Wi-Fi online team multiplayer was cancelled, as was the additional downloadable content. Local multiplayer remains, for two four-Worm teams.
Overall, Worms: A Space Oddity is a pretty fun turn-based game. There are plenty of customization options (including your Worms’ look), a neat level editor and fun mini-games, plus the controls are certainly different and make the classic gameplay quite fun and original.
However, the full retail price tag is a bit too high for something that you can play on Xbox Live Arcade with a decent online multiplayer support. That alone might make a lot of Wii owners wait for a price drop on this one.
Special thanks to THQ for providing a copy of this title.